This is a list of things which are more or less likely to be implemented in time for the release of Etch. Please read ["EtchTODOListMeta"] for information on this list before making any changes. See also the "Bits from the release team" posts to debian-devel-announce, like the [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/10/msg00004.html Fri, 14 Oct 2005] one, as well as the current list of architectures which are to be considered a candidate release architecture on CategoryEtchReleaseRecertification.
Finally, be sure to take a look at [http://bts.turmzimmer.net/ Release Critical Issues for Etch] according to this [http://release.debian.org/etch_rc_policy.txt definition] which is maintained by the Release Team.
?TableOfContents
Proposed changes
Policy application
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00979.html Resolve FDL issue]
- Remove non-free firmware (downloadable co-processor software) from the kernel (Kernel Team)
Distribution infrastructure
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00979.html Support] ["multiarch"]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01011.html Implement multi level configuration] for popular services and some other unpopular ones (needed for cdds)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01011.html Implement automatic reconfiguration of packages] and change policy to allow for that (needed for cdds)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01011.html Enhance apt to install special configuration packages] (which pre-seed debconf or supply configuration by other means before the packages that are to be pre-configured) are installed or reconfigured (important for modularized preconfigured subsystems)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01028.html More finely grain task selection], [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Automatically detect] user needs. Automate task selection?
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html MD5 / SHA-1 listing of files in ftp sites] (useful for forensics analysis see #303961)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Allow dpkg to be used as an audit tool] to detect changes in the system, not as a security mechanism but to detect broken stuff (includes [http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=155799 #155799] and [http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=34194 #34194])
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00496.html Make it a lot easier to install at medium priority].
Issues that affect several packages
Various library transitions, see ["OngoingTransitions"] and ["?EtchSlang2upgrade"] (also [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01180.html these] [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01191.html different] [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01180.html posts])
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01180.html Complete LFS support (Steve Langasek)]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01215.html Get rid of circular dependencies] (Bill Alombert)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01215.html Various menu related things] (Bill Alombert)
Package additions, removals, replacements
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Reduce standard installation] (no gcc or development tools!, see http://bugs.debian.org/301138 or http://bugs.debian.org/301273 )
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00480.html Add laptop task]. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00544.html Look at the laptop-detect package] in ubuntu.
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00512.html Switch to mingetty]. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01061.html reasons to switch]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Prune packages from release] based on popularity, packages which are not used by anyone should not go in! (not enough peer review, probably not audited, bug ridden with bugs, including security making security handling a nightmare)
[http://wiki.debian.net/?EtchConsole2KbdTransition Move from console-tools, console-data in base to kbd.].
[http://wiki.debian.net/RemoveRuby16 Remove Ruby1.6].
Service init and management
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Firewall configuration during installation]: module for d-i. Currently, the system is exposed just during installation on some systems (empty root password?) (Improved d-i might [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00480.html make this unnecessary]), a [ virtual firewall package] might be a good idea to stop admins from installing several (conflicting) firewall rulesets.
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00999.html Change boot system], to one capable of handling dependencies and parallel invocation, to speed up the boot process. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html see Solaris 10] or http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rgooch/linux/boot-scripts/) [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01180.html Lars Wirzenius]
- See Bug#315877: ITP: initng -- next generation init system -- chealer
See also [http://www.netsplit.com/blog/articles/2006/08/26/upstart-in-universe upstart]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Separate runlevels] as defined in LSB. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00551.html current way is a feature.]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00729.html Harmonize, internationalize output of initscripts] (verbose as default and/or simple as [ ok ]/[ notok ] (lsb-initscripts should bring this))
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Support "status" method in initscripts] (#291148)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00481.html Support "zap" method in initscripts]. Altough it's a solution from 'should never be needed' dept. ask yourself how many times you had to killall -9 $something! (...not that killall is the right solution for zap...)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00701.html Do not start services on installation]. Starting daemons on installation causes trouble in chroot setups. Or rather, [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00701.html Always start services on installation]. Starting services on installation makes sense. Peculiar schemes for disabling services implemented in packages should in most cases be eliminated. Appropriate ways to disable a service are: to de-install the package; to use sysv-rc-conf to change the runlevel settings; [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00718.html policy-rc.d]. Or just do like the [http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/udev udev] package does and detect chroot environments[?FootNote(Udev seems to "detect chroot" by checking if proc is mounted. For chroots with proc bind-mounted such check fails.)].
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Implement boot in "control" mode]: i.e., select which initscripts will run, this provides a way to work around hardware issues after d-i has installed the base system (personal example: #301112) [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00708.html same for modules to load]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00999.html Replace default syslog-daemon] to one capable to storing severity/facility in the log file.
Security enhancements
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Add systematic buffer overflow protection]: ExecShield or !PaX in stock kernel
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Support Mandatory Access Control]: ["SELinux"] support (RSBAC?). See ["SELinuxStatus"] for details on the progress.
Add option to recompile the distro with [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html SPP] (apt-build?). New i386-spp architecture?
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Audit source code properly]. This way we will detect stupid security bugs (/tmp/XX.?? anyone?) Recurrent things like #306893 appear all too often. Automatic source code audit ala lintian.debian.org?
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Checksecurity] live up to its name and merge changes from other distros and BSDs.
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Security / Update managements of multiple servers] from a single point. There's no single tool to do check the security status of many servers at once (like done in RedHat's Network). Use OVAL agents? See #253097
Documentation, internationalization, localization
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Offer more convenient help/documentation search] (dwww sucks, dhelp needs improvement) Provide a "Debian documentation center" with search functions to detect information in READMEs, html files, manuals relevant to a free-text query? Desktop search is in the works by several projects already, maybe [http://beaglewiki.org/Main_Page beagle] or [http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=22135 kat]/... can be used for this?
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Improve the Debian Reference] to the level of what RedHat or SuSE already provide
--- We need volunteer. My attempt: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianReference
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Internationalize documentation] in CD-ROMs, better track of out-of-date translations
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00585.html Provide better unicode coverage in fonts] so that KDE/Gnome can display the http://www.wikipedia.org titlepage with all characters.
Other issues (wishlist, generic, vague, etc)
- Get rid of all non-debconf questions and similar stuff. Get rid of useless debconf abuse.
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01025.html Fix packages in base and packages up to priority standard so as not to use savelog]. There is at least one package in base i know off which uses savelog to rotate logfiles. Using logrotate is a more save way, as it gives the user the possibility to configure more easyly when logfiles are rotated. I would like to see 5(j) of etch release-policy adjusted or best, to say, all packages must use logrotate.
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01025.html Handle IPv6].
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01025.html Document tcpwrappers usage in all packages] A lot of programms use tcpwrapper which I appreciate a lot. However, it is quite often not too easy to find out what to write in hosts.allow to allow access to exactly that program. Frankly speaking, having that information always in the manpage seems a good idea to me. (i would like to see that as recommondation for packages in etch)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00501.html Reorganize packages] that have been postponed over several releases; e.g., #100332: "tetex-bin: please move xdvi to its own package"
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/07/msg01105.html Review all package descriptions]. See ["PackagesDescriptionsReview"]
- Base system should be upgraded to latest upstream (forward patches!) this includes PAM, modutils...
- Replace Exim by Postfix as default MTA. Postfix seems to be the default in Linux land, and is arguably easier to use.
Add support in DebianInstaller to recognize SATA software raids, dm-raid is already in debian sid and can be integrated and added to partman, no urgent need to support creations or managements of raids, since it can be done by the BIOS, just show up the device /dev/mapper/<dm-raid_name>.
Add support in DebianInstaller to install on EVMS volumes, evms and init{rd,ramfs} is already in debian sarge and can be integrated in partman embedding evmsn (ncurses) or evmsgui (to be recompiled with gtk-dfb).
- move to LSB 3.0 compatibility; discuss with Debian LSB team.
- ["Games"]
Done
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Track bugs associated with testing release better] (not manually!)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00979.html Complete transition to GCC 3.4/4 ABI] [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01180.html Matthias Klose]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01028.html Improve menu system]: I'd like to have the possibilty to hide some programs from the users menu, or from groups of users. (Appearently this is [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01031.html already done]).
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00979.html Get Xorg into the archive] (David Nusinow and the [http://lists.debian.org/debian-x/ X Strike Force])
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01143.html Improve hotplug] - make it faster and less painful; [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00999.html deal with excluded modules in a sane way] (udev has replaced all hotplug scripts and other weirdness, blacklisting is now supported in modprobe).
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00982.html Ship the new apt-get]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Add package signature checks] see SecureApt
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00979.html Get new KDE version into the archive]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01143.html Improve or remove hotplug in its present shape] (hotplug is gone with recent udev)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00980.html Ship ?OpenOffice2]
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00627.html Use UTF-8 locales by default] (DebianInstaller now installs a system with UTF-8 as the default, see also [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00630.html this posting]).
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01028.html Support debtags in the package system], since I often spend time searching the right application by google and then checking if it's already packaged
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html Implement better package search mechanism] allowing free text search in package management interfaces: "I want a program that does X" [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00843.html apt-cache is not enough] (see the preceeding point about debtags)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00982.html Implement the "scc" archive split] to lighten load on mirrors (this seem to be implemented 2006-04-15?)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00982.html Add AMD64 port officially] ([http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/04/msg00011.html fixed])
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00464.html Drop support for 2.2 and 2.4 kernels]. Decision to do so by the kernel team can be found [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00007.html here]. (Note: even though 2.6 does still contain some [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00553.html regressions] at this point which hopefully will [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00897.html not be an issue] anymore when etch is released. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01035.html some features] require a 2.6 kernel and many packages are easier to maintain if the existence of sysfs can be assumed. d-i would be happy about [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00876.html having this decision soon]. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00884.html 2.6 kernels will not fit onto a floppy] though, so this will break floppy-based installs ([http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01053.html proposed workarounds], or [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01044.html replace mkinitrd] which is [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg01046.html not used by d-i]). This does not imply dropping support for OSS in favour of ALSA. OSS is still needed for GNU/["kFreeBSD"], for example.)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html inetd begone!]: Replace with xinetd or [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00464.html saner inetd], or [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00620.html remove it altogether], [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00464.html Allow for easy switching] of inetd (depends on a better update-inetd script) (saner inetd, openbsd-inetd is now in, the dependency from netbase on an inetd server wil be dropped after Etch is released).
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00499.html Add pifupdown -- networking equivalent of pmount]. Users in a special group would be allowed to bring interfaces up and down and to configure them. Obviously on servers and corporate desktops this group would be empty or contain only system admins, but on a laptop you have to be able to fit into the network you are presented with and you do not want joe-user to be switching to root all the time just in order to do these functions. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00516.html wiki:NetworkManager] is promising (ubuntu is incorporating that already into breezy); a KDE frontend to that seems [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00612.html possible]. (Fixed with the inclusion of NetworkManager)
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00999.html Improve hardware detection] and [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00462.html detect Hardware changes] system detects after a reboot when a new SVGA card, new Ethernet card, etc. has been installed and prompts for new configuration. [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/06/msg00480.html must be easy to remove] (a default desktop system now comes with a recent 2.6.X kernel, HAL and udev which gives automated hardware mgmt)